Sometimes you have to think that the hamster inside the hamster wheel of Trump’s brain gets a hit of meth every now and then. In another lame brain tariff idea, Donald Joanne Trump decided that he hasn’t inflicted enough harm on our national industries. In a Truth Social post, Trump stated that he will exact a 100 percent tariff on films that are “produced in Foreign Lands.”
Two things about this: (one) for some strange reason Trump capitalized ‘Foreign Lands’, which makes me wonder if he thinks that is a country. If so, who told him that. I would love to know. (Two) Like all the other tariffs, this will hurt theaters, not only studios.
Not to mention, how is production abroad considered a “national security threat”. From my observation, he believes that if he labels everything a national security threat, he would be able to make executive orders. One thing about executive orders: they’re bullshit.
They are not binding. If something were to happen to Trump (and I’m not threatening anyone with a good time), and JD Couch were to take over – he could sign another executive order to repeal all these tariffs. Or, unfortunately, we have to wait four years for a Democrat to take over, he could do the same. In order for these to have far-reaching consequences, Congress would need to make laws to do this.
Who knows if that is part of his “big beautiful bill” that is making its way through Congress. All studios, with their lobbying power would have to do is tie this up in court, and he would back down.
White House spokesperson Kush Desai offered slightly more information to The Hollywood Reporter. “Although no final decisions on foreign film tariffs have been made, the Administration is exploring all options to deliver on President Trump’s directive to safeguard our country’s national and economic security while Making Hollywood Great Again,” Desai said.
You can be sure this will be more of a deep dive in this week’s podcast. Bet your ass on that.